The march towards dynamic theming continues
Like most of Google’s apps, Gboard is in the middle of a redesign. While Material You won’t dramatically change the look of your device’s keyboard — it’s still a QWERTY layout, after all — it does provide some new rounded edges while matching the theme of your device. If you’re a regular user of Gboard’s floating mode, a new look is coming to streamline how you move and resize the UI.
As spotted in an APK teardown by XDA Developers, the latest beta for Google’s default keyboard app makes some minor changes to the pop-out display. The tab used to move the board around your screen has been shrunk, no longer sticking out along the bottom of the UI and using two lines rather than a full icon to indicate it’s movable. Rounded edges run along the entirety of the keyboard, matching the new circular keys that have arrived in the run-up to Android 12. And the resizing grid now uses a full border along Gboard to highlight its edges.
Left: Old floating UI. Right: New floating UI (via XDA).
It’s a couple of subtle changes, but it looks great when paired with those recent Material You changes. It’s a more modern and sophisticated touch than what we’ve previously seen from the app.
It’s not the only new feature in this updated beta. Gboard’s translation feature now has a new UI to match Material You’s dynamic themes. This particular change looks far more modern than the initial layout we’ve seen, especially next to the rest of the tweaks made for Android 12.
Left: Old translate UI. Right: New translate UI (via XDA).
The new UI for both floating keyboards and in-line translation has been spotted in the latest beta version of Gboard, although it’s not available for all users just yet. If you feel like trying your luck with server-side update roulette, head on over to APK Mirror to download and install this beta.
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